Havurah, a unique new program for teens from the North American Russian Jewish community, had its inaugural session this past summer at Camp Tel Yehudah in Barryville, New York.  With generous support from the Genesis Philanthropy Group in partnership with the Foundation for Jewish Camp and 9th through 12^th grades to spend two weeks with their peers at Camp Tel Yehudah, the national senior leadership camp of Young Judaea, the Zionist youth movement of Hadassah.

Due to the success of our first season, Havurah is now expanding to a three and half week session in  in the summer of 2010.  The program dates will coincide with the second session of Camp Tel Yehudah: July 25^th – August 18^th.  The extended program will now include overnight trips throughout the North-Eastern United States, Maccabiah games (color war) and double the opportunities for fun, learning and making new friends.

Through a variety of innovative informal educational and recreational experiences, Havurah participants explore and deepen their relationships with Israel, Jewish traditions, and Jewish culture and identity.  With a commitment to Jewish pluralism as one of its core values, Tel Yehudah is a comfortable setting for Russian Jewish teens from a wide array of backgrounds.  Each year, campers come to Tel Yehudah from all over the United States, Britain, and Israel, with a wide range of Jewish affiliation, education, and commitment.  Sharing some of the activities and free time with the campers of Tel Yehudah’s leadership program, Havurah teens have an opportunity to develop friendships with Jewish teenagers from outside their own community.  With a strong focus on Israel at the core of the camp program, the counselors and educators from Israel, alongside the ones that come from North America, guide all aspects of the Jewish lifestyle we strive to maintain in camp.